Indian-Canadian driver arrested for crashing truck into bus carrying hockey players in April, claiming 16 lives

Ottawa: A 29-year-old Indian-origin truck driver in Canada has been arrested in connection with a bus crash that killed 16 people, mostly members of a junior hockey team, one of the worst disasters in the country’s sporting community.

The driver, Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, was arrested at his home in Calgary city on Friday and remanded into custody, the CBC reported, quoting the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the national police force of the country. Sidhu is facing 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 counts of dangerous operation of motor vehicle causing bodily injury, the CBC reported. He is set to appear in a court in Saskatchewan province next week, but no date has been set. Dangerous driving causing death carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in Canada. Sidhu’s lawyer declined to comment on his client.

Sixteen people, including 10 players, were killed and 13 injured when the Humboldt Broncos hockey team was on its way to a playoff game at the time of the collision with the tractor-trailer on 6 April. Sidhu was not injured, but he did receive trauma counselling in the aftermath.

Support staff and the team’s head and assistant coaches were also among the causalities. A number of players who survived the crash are still recovering from significant injuries. Police have not disclosed the findings of their investigation into how the crash happened.

Sidhu was a bachelor of commerce student at Panjab University in Chandigarh from 2008 until 2012, the CBC said, citing his LinkedIn profile. He was working for the Calgary-based Adesh Deol Trucking Ltd at the time of the crash.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance said in a statement on Friday that it would like to see the results of the investigation into the trucking company that employed Sidhu. The Humboldt Broncos released a statement thanking the RCMP and its investigators for their work. “Our organization has faith in the justice system and we will be watching closely as this court process plays out,” the statement read. “Our primary focus continues to be supporting the survivors, families and others that were directly impacted by the tragedy on 6 April.”